Internal combustion engine having a rotary piston arranged eccentrically on a shaft



June 25, 1963 F, 1 HOGGUER 3,094,840

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE HAVING A ROTARY PISTON ARRANGED ECCENTRICALLY 0N A SHAFT Filed April 28, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR,

.BMM 30m2 'mlm Wma/54M HOGGUER 3,094,840 TION ENGINE HAVING A ROTARY CCENTRICALLY ON A SHAFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. .wbd/flh lmfmm/g 716m/ WM @A @u June 25, 1963 F J INTERNAL COMBUS u PISTON ARRANGED E Flled April 28, 1960 m I Am 6 E y.

June 1963 F, J, HOGGUER 3,094,840

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE HAVING A ROTARY PISTON ARRANGED ECCENTRICALLY ON A SHAFT Filed April 28, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INTERNAL COMBUSTIQN ENGINE HAVING A ROTARY PISTN ARRANGED ECCENTRICALLY N A SHAFT Fredrik Jeremas Hogguer, Nieuw Loosdrechtsedijlc 264,

Nieuw Loosdrecht, Netherlands Filed Apr. 28, 1950, Ser. No. 25,294 Claims priority, application Netherlands Oct. 13, 1959 6 Claims. (Cl. 64I-$9.43)

The copending application Ser. No. 817,648 describes an internal combustion engine having a rota-ry piston arranged eccentrically on a shaft, a portion of which piston having a circular section permanently bears against the inner side of the housing, a plurality of sliding sleeves regularly distributed over the periphery of the housing being accommodated in said housing, which sliding sleeves are spring-pressed against the cylindrical surface of the piston, a plurality of compression chambers being distributed over the periphery of the housing, each of which chambers has a sliding sleeve associated therewith and each chamber, as seen looking in the direction of rotation of the piston, being located before its associated sliding sleeve, while that portion of the cylindrical surface of the piston bearing against the inner side of the housing is provided with one or more apertures which cooperate with at least one inwardly directed driving blade, the arrangement being such that the operating iluid supplied centrally to the piston is passed to a space defined by the piston, the housing and two sliding sleeves and is subsequently ignited `after being compressed in a compression chamber, following which the combustion gases after having acted on the b1ade(s) provided in the piston, are discharged .through an outlet centrally arranged in the piston.

Now the improvement according to the invention resides in that each compression chamber is directed substantially tangentially relative to the cylindrical surface of the piston, its open end adjoining one of the sliding sleeves that are reciprocated by the cylindrical surface of the piston.

It is thus achieved that the expanding combustion gases, after ignition, imping upon the main blade in the piston at as favourable an angle as possible, and thus with as great an effect as possible, without the gas ow having to be deected over an angle, which latter entails great losses.

In addition the internal combustion engine according to the invention may be so constructed that each sliding sleeve is guided by a guide means projecting substantially radially from the periphery of the housing and surrounding the sliding sleeve, which guide means is closed by a cover having an inwardly projecting tubular portion which partially extends into the sliding sleeve and which has a ybottom whose shape is adapted to the shape of the sliding sleeve and the periphery of the piston, a helical spring acting on the sliding sleeve being arranged about said inwardly projecting tubular portion.

As a result the rotary piston and the sliding sleeves are the only moving parts and are entirely sealed from the atmosphere, while only the outer surface of each sliding sleeve and the steel pin which is in contact with the periphery of the piston, are sliding. The piston springs can be omitted and only one pressure spring per sliding sleeve is necessary. Furthermore corrosion is considerably restricted.

In the following description the improvement will be elucidated with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a section on line I-I in FIGURE 3,

3,694,849 Patented June 25, 1963 FIGURE la is a corresponding section through a compression chamber according to another embodiment;

FIGURE 2 is a section on line II-II in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a section on line III-III in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is a section through part of the engine, normal to the main shaft, but on line IV-IV in FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a section through a compression chamber and its associated sliding sleeve according to yet another embodiment;

FIGURE Sa is a section on line Va-Va in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 6 is a section corresponding to FIGURE 5 through a compression chamber and its associated sliding sleeve again according to another embodiment, the cylindrical guide means `for the sliding sleeve being shown at the one side in an air-cooled embodiment and at the other side in a liquid-cooled embodiment;

FIGURE 6a is a section on line VIa-VIa in FIG- URE 6 and FIGURE 7 is a section, corresponding to FIGURE 3, through part of the engine, the left and the right half of the present figure showing the air-cooled and the liquid-cooled embodiment respectively.

The embodiment of the rotary internal combustion engine shown in FIGURES l to 4 inclusive comprises a box-shaped cylinder or housing 1 having a cylindrical periphery and two covers 2, '3 secured thereto by means of bolts. Said cylinder 1 has four' cylindrical guide means 4 equidistantly spaced around its periphery, in each of which a sliding sleeve 5 is slidable axially and, relative to the main shaft 6 of the engine, radially. Each sliding sleeve in transverse direction comprises a bottom 7 extending over three quarters of its periphery and radially inwardly directed extension pieces or wings 7 and 7", provided with a cyindrical pin 8, which pins engage the -disc-shaped engine piston 9, the axis of which runs parallel to the engine shaft 6. By means of its pin 8, each sliding sleeve is in Contact with the partly concentric outer periphery v10, and the partly eccentric outer periphery @11 of the engine piston. It will be noted that eccentric periphery :11 is a substantially regular curvilinear surface which is tangent, at each end, to the cylindrical inner surface of the cylinder 1, and which has a 4maximum eccentricity, relative to the cylinder 1, at a point substantially midway of its tangent ends. Helical compression springs 1-2 ensure permanent contact between the pins 8 of the sliding sleeves and the piston 9. The wings 7' and 7" of the sliding sleeve bottom 7 laterally seal the engine piston 9. A counter-weight 13 effects the balancing of the piston 9.

If the engine is equipped with a double or multi-bladed piston, thus a piston with two or more main blades equidistantly spaced over its periphery and two or more concentric and eccentric faces equidistantly spaced over the periphery, the counter-weight 13` is supertluous.

A stationary compression chamber 15 is provided in peripherally adjacent relation to each. sliding sleeve, on the trailing side of the associated sliding sleeve as considered with respect to the direction .of rotation of the piston as indicated by the arrow 14. Each compression chamber 15 is so oriented that its longitudinal center line forms a very small acute angle with a tangent to the circular periphery of the housing 1. The compression chambers are formed by a circular-cylindrical casing 16 oras appears from FIGURES 5 and Sa-are formed by a casing 16 which in cross-section comprises two parallel straight sides and two curved sides, as. well as by an end wall 17.

In the embodiment according to FIGURE l, a screwthreaded spark plug hole -18 is provided in the end wall 17 to receive a spark plug 13a. In the embodiments according to FIGURES la and a this hole 18 is provided in the side wall of casing 16.

The positions of the sliding sleeves 5 relative to the associated compression chamber in the different phases of the four stroke operating cycle clearly appear from FIGURE 1. The guide means 4 are permanently closed at the outer side by covers 19, which covers also form tubular inward projections 2t) which extend into the sliding sleeves 5 and have a bottom 21 whose shape conforms to the shape of the bottom of said sleeves and of the concentric peripheral surface portion 10 of the engine piston. In the embodiment according to FIGURES l to 4 inclusive the helical spring y1?. is located in the space between the guide means 4, the cover 19 a-nd the tubular projection above the sliding sleeve 5, whereas said spring is disposed within the sliding sleeve in the cmbodiment according to FIGURES 5 and 5a. Through this last-named arrangement the radially directed guide means 4 can be much shorter.

In order that the sliding sleeve wings 7 and 7l provide for the pin 8 to yfreely follow the piston periphery 10, 11, the cylinder covers 2, 3 are recessed and ground to form a cylinder segment, -as at 2.2.

The engine piston or rotor 9 comprises a hollow, at disc including axially spaced end walls and a peripheral wall joining the end walls, the eccentric periphery 11 of which is entirely closed, but the concentric periphery 10 of which is largely open, so that there is a gap of a width equalling the space between the piston end walls 23, As seen looking in the direction of rotation according to the arrow 14, a radially extending blade is located adjacent the concentric peripheral portion 10, which blade extends from the periphery to just past the main shaft 6. The combustion gases are directed against the trailing surface of said blade and cause the piston to rotate.

rllhe outer surface of the wall 24 of the piston is provided with a recess 26 extending from a portion of the periphery towards the centre, which -recess communicates with the inlet 27 and admits fresh mixture or air to the operating space, according as to whether the engine runs on a mixture or operates as an injection engine.

When the combustion gases have delivered their energy to the blade 25 which is fixed with a pin 2S (vide FIG- URE 1), they are exhausted, partly via the axially bent branch 29 of the blade 25, which latter is made from a piece of tubing, and partly through the eccentric opening 30 in the side wall 23 of the piston, and are discharged through the outlet 31.

'Ihis unimpeded discharge is made possible because the side wall 24 of the piston, which is located at the inlet "side of the engine, is secured to a flange 34, provided on the shaft 6, by means of bolts 32 and nuts 33. As a result, a seal between the ange and the piston to prevent the fresh mixture and the outlet gases from mixing, may be omitted. The shaft bearing 35 is located so close to the piston that danger of vibration is out of the question.

If, with a view to the combustion process taking place in the engine, it is desirable to do so, a small piston 36 can be provided in each compression chamber, which piston 36 is loaded by a spring 37 (vide FIGURE la) and causes the explosion toi take place more gradually, while it can serve for removing combustion residues from the compression chamber. Structural particulars, such as piston springs, an abutment defining the inward movement and suchlilre, are not indicated in said figure, which only shows the spark plug hole 18 provided in the casing 16, and the hole 1-8 meant as a vent for the rear side of the piston 36.

If it is desired to have the explosion act more gradually in a plurality of phases, on the main blade passing the compression chamber, then each compression chamber may be provided defining longitudinal partitions 38, 39 with passages 40, 41, through which the explosion surges leave the compression chamber in stages (vide FIGURES 5 and 5a) to imping upon the main blade Z5 at the right moment.

With the arrangement of FIG. 5, it will be noted that the initial ignition will take place adjacent the opening 18', and that the thus ignited gases in the passage directly communicating with the opening 18 will, through the opening `40, ignite the gases in the central passage. In turn, the gases ignited in the central passage will, through the opening 41, ignite the gases in the third passage, or the upper passage as viewed in FIG. 5a. 'I'here is thus a progressive impingement of gases against the blade 25.

It is also possible to shape the compression chamber 15 such that the longitudinal section is: triangular with the apex located in the point of contact on the inner periphery of the cylinder (vide FIGURE 6i). Both sides, meeting in the apex 42, practically touch said periphery of the cylinder. The cross-section of the chamber may be rectangular, as shown in FIGURE 6a. The average direction in which the explosion surge leaves said compression chamber 15 is substantially normal to the main blade 25.

Finally the lateral sealing of the piston 9 may be effected by means of axially slidable sealing rings 43, 44, which are guided by pins 45 and are loaded by springs 46.

It will further be apparent from FIGURES 6 and 7, that the engine may be either air-cooled or liquid-cooled. Cooling ribs are designated by 47 and cooling liquid cavities by 48.

Although the operation of the engine may be considered to be clear, the lfour operating phases are indicated by the letters a to d inclusive in FIGURE 1, a being the defined space in which air or a fuel-air mixture is being sucked in, b a defined space which has just been iilled, its charge being ready for compression, c a defined space in which the charge .is being compressed and d the space in which combustion and exhaust of the gases is taking place.

I claim:

1. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising, -in combination,

(a) a casing having a cylindrical inner surface and constituting a cylinder;

(b) a rotatable shaft extending coaxially of said cylindrical inner surface;

(c) a substantially disk shape rotary hollow main piston secured to said shaft for rotation within said cylinder, and including a pair of axially spaced end walls and a peripheral wall interconnecting said end walls;

(d) the periphery of said piston being divided into at least one group of four consecutive sections of substantially equiangular extent; the first three leading sections of each group, considered in the direction of rotation of said main piston, having a oommon curvilinear surf-ace which is eccentric to said shaft, with the eccentricity increasing to a maximum at the mid-point of said com-mon curvilinear surface, and which is tangent to the surface of said cylinder at the leading edge of the first section and the trailing edge of the third section, the fourth scction of each group being substantially coaxial with said shaft, having a radius substantially equal to that of said cylinder, `and having a sliding sealing fit with the surface of said cylinder;

(e) a plurality of substantially cylindrical sleeves, equal in number to the total number of said main piston periphery sections, mounted in equi-angular spaced relation cincumferentially of said casing vfor substantially radial reciprocation relative to said shaft, each sleeve having a diameter equal to the axial extent of said main piston and an inner end in continuous fluid-tight engagement with the periphery of said main piston; each sleeve being slideably mounted in a respective substantially radially outwardly project' ing sleeve guiding extension of said casing;

(y) means biasing -said sleeves inwardly toward said main piston;

(g) a plurality of compression chambers, equal in number to said sleeves and independent of said sleeve guiding extensions, mounted -in equi-angular spaced lrelation circumferentially of said casing and each communicating with said main cylinder, each of said compression chambers being associated with a respective one of said sleeves and located, considered with respect to the direction of rotation of said main piston, just in advance of its -associated respective sleeve;

(lz) each of said compression chambers extending tangentially to said cylinder in a direction away from its associated respective sleeve, and the outer end of each compression chamber being closed; combustible mixture ignition means associated with each compression chamber; an admission port opening axially through one side of said casing;

(i) inlet recesses in the outer surface of one end wall of said main piston, equal in number to said groups, each continuously communicating at its inner end with said admission port and having its outer end opening through the main piston periphery throughout substantially the full angular extent of the leading peripheral section of each group;

(j) a driving blade extending radially .inwardly of said main piston adjacent the leading edge of the trailing section of each group, said blade having a radial outer end in continuous fluid-tight engagement, throughout the inner axial extent of said piston, with the peripheral wall of said cylinder to completely seal its associated trailing section from -its associated third section; whereby, yas said shaft rotates, the space, dened by the leading peripheral section of each group and a pair of circumferentially adjacent sleeves, will expand to draw combustible mixture thereinto through the associated inlet recess, and the thus drawn in combustible mixture will be oompressed in the space dened by the third peripheral section of each group, a pair of circumferentially spaced adjacent sleeves, and the associated compression chamber between the latter; the thus compressed mixture being ignited as the driving blade of the trailing section of each group passes the inner end of such associated compression chamber for impingement of the expanding gases, directed tangentially into the cylinder, against the trailing surface of the driving :blade to rotate said main piston;

(k) means associated with each driving blade for directing the exhaust gases impinging there against radially inwardly of said piston;

(l) and means for exhausting gases from the interior of said main piston adjacent said shaft.

2. A rotary internal combustion engine, as claimed in claim l, said guiding extensions comprising aplurality of guide means, equal in number to said sleeves, and each independent of the adjacent combustion chamber and having an inner end opening through the inner cylindrical surface of said casing, each guide means projecting substantially radially from the periphery of said casing and each coaxial with and slideably embracing a respective one of said sleeves; each guide means having va closure element secured to its outer end and lformed with an inwardly projecting tubular portion forming, with the associated guide means, an annular space receiving the associated sleeve; the inner end surface of each tubular portion conforming to the cylindrical inner surface of said cylinder; said sleeve lbiasing means each comprising a helical spring surrounding the tubular portion of a closure element and seated, between the outer end of said closure element and the associated sleeve.

3. A Irotary internal combustion engine, as claimed in cl-aim 1, in which each of said compression chambers has a circular cross-section.

4. A rota-ry `internal combustion engine, as claimed in claim 1, including a plurality of auxiliary pistons, each freely slideably mounted in va respective compression chamber; and a compression spring disposed between the outer surface of each auxiliary piston and the closed outer end of the associated compression chamber.

5. A rota-ry internal combustion engine, as claimed -in claim 1, in which each compression chamber has at least one partition extending longitudinally thereof and dividing the compression chamber into separate longitudinally extending compartments; each partition being formed with an access opening for communication between compartments, and the access openings being so disposed, relative to the location of said ignition means, that the ignition of the combustible mixture will progress respectively from said ignition means through each of said compartments in sequence.

6. A rotary internal combustion engine, as claimed in claim 1, i-n which each compression chamber, as viewed in a diametric plane of said cylinder, is longitudinally triangular in section with the apex of the longitudinally extending sides thereof lying on the surface of said cylinder.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 267,675 Cory Nov. 21, 1882 291,522 Kimball Jan. 8, 1884 800,684 Schneider Oct. 3, 1905 1,244,529 Mehle Oct. 30, 1917 1,250,196 Louche Dec. 18, 1917 1,316,957 Johanson Sept. 23, 1919 1,339,730 Williams May 11, 1920 1,520,005 Broughton Dec. 23, 1924 2,013,397 Blalsiger Sept. 3, 1935 2,015,027 Finley Sept. 17, 1935 2,421,898 Melrose I une 10, 1947 2,908,135 King et al Oct. 13, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES The Ame-rican Inventor, April 1906, vol. 15, #4, p. 101, published at 114 Liberty Street, New York, N.Y. 

1. A ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, (A) A CASING HAVING A CYLINDRICAL INNER SURFACE AND CONSTITUTING A CYLINDER; (B) A ROTATABLE SHAFT EXTENDING COAXIALLY OF SAID CYLINDRICAL INNER SURFACE; (C) A SUBSTANTIALLY DISK SHAPE ROTARY HOLLOW MAIN PISTON SECURED TO SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION WITHIN SAID CYLINDER, AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF AXIALLY SPACED END WALLS AND A PERIPHERAL WALL INTERCONNECTING SAID END WALLS; (D) THE PERIPHERY OF SAID PISTON BEING DIVIDED INTO AT LEAST ONE GROUP OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE SECTIONS OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIANGULAR EXTENT; THE FIRST THREE LEADING SECTIONS OF EACH GROUP, CONSIDERED IN THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF SAID MAIN PISTON, HAVING A COMMON CURVILINEAR SURFACE WHICH IS ECCENTRIC TO SAID SHAFT, WITH THE ECCENTRICITY INCREASING TO A MAXIMUM AT THE MID-POINT OF SAID COMMON CURVILINEAR SURFACE, AND WHICH IS TANGENT TO THE SURFACE OF SAID CYLINDER AT THE LEADING EDGE OF THE FIRST SECTION AND THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE THIRD SECTION, THE FOURTH SECTION OF EACH GROUP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COAXIAL WITH SAID SHAFT, HAVING A RADIUS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THAT OF SAID CYLINDER, AND HAVING A SLIDING SEALING FIT WITH THE SURFACE OF SAID CYLINDER; (E) A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL SLEEVES, EQUAL IN NUMBER TO THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SAID MAIN PISTON PERIPHERY SECTIONS, MOUNTED IN EQUI-ANGULAR SPACED RELATION CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF SAID CASING FOR SUBSTANTIALLY RADIAL RECIPROCATION RELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT, EACH SLEEVE HAVING A DIAMETER EQUAL TO THE AXIAL EXTENT OF SAID MAIN PISTON AND AN INNER END IN CONTINUOUS FLUID-TIGHT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PERIPHERY OF SAID MAIN PISTON; EACH SLEEVE BEING SLIDEABLY MOUNTED IN A RESPECTIVE SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY OUTWARDLY PROJECTING SLEEVE GUIDING EXTENSION OF SAID CASING; 